Applications sought for awards scheme tackling social segregation

Groups which help build bridges between different communities that usually do not integrate could win up to £5,000.

The Oxfordshire Community Foundation (OCF) is seeking applications to the High Sheriff’s Community Integration Awards which aim to address problems of social segregation such as those witnessed in the context of the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Successful projects will also be recognised at an annual awards ceremony hosted by the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire.

Groups that have received a High Sheriff’s Community Integration Award in recent years include African Families in the UK (AFiUK), which helps women from developing countries understand the role of the state in family life in the UK and the opportunities offered, and Ark-T, whose Herspace project brings vulnerable young women together with older women at a local care home, who share experiences of the problems that they also faced when young.

Jayne Woodley, chief executive at OCF, said: “Here at OCF we have been moved by the story of murdered MP Jo Cox, and found that her philosophy that we have more in common than that which divides us particularly resonated with us. We believe that the majority of people in Oxfordshire would agree with this sentiment.”